Curtain Fig Tree

Heritage listed tree in Queensland, Australia
the invidual strangler fig

Curtain Fig Tree is a heritage listed tree at Curtain Fig Tree Road, Yungaburra, Tablelands Region, Queensland, Australia. It is one of the largest trees in Tropical North Queensland, Australia, and one of the best known attractions on the Atherton Tableland. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 December 2009.

The Curtain Fig Tree is of the strangler fig species Ficus virens. Normally these figs germinate on top of another tree and try to grow roots into the ground. Once this important step is accomplished, the fig will grow vigorously, finally kill the hosting tree and then grow on independently. In this case, the hosting tree tilted towards a neighbouring tree, and the fig also grew around that one. Its curtain of aerial roots drops (49 feet (15 m)) to the ground. Although these figs kill their hosts, they are an epiphyte which basically feeds from the ground, unlike a parasitic plant which feeds from the sap of the host plant/tree.

Far North Queensland's famous Curtain Fig Tree (Ficus virens) is located in a Curtain Fig National Park about one kilometre north of the town of Yungaburra on the Atherton Tableland. It is estimated by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to be at least 500 years old. Associated with organised tourism on the Tableland since the 1920s, the tree has been important in the development of the Cairns hinterland as a major tourist region in Queensland. The Curtain Fig Tree is approximately high with a trunk circumference of The canopy extends in a radius of approximately from the trunk of the tree. Extensive aerial roots, which are now thick and interwoven, drop to the forest floor, forming a curtain oriented north west to south east over approximately The host tree has since rotted away and the fig is now a free standing tree. Access to the Curtain Fig Tree which is approximately from the road is via a wide timber boardwalk from the roadside car park. At the beginning of the boardwalk there is a sheltered interpretation board that outlines the importance of the mabi rainforest and the history of the Curtain Fig Tree. The boardwalk then encircles the Curtain Fig. This boardwalk is easily accessible to wheelchairs and is raised above the forest floor (approximately ) which also ensures visitors have minimal impact on the surrounding rainforest. Another interpretation board outlining how the tree was formed is located towards the end of the boardwalk, near the western face of the tree. At the base of the Curtain Fig are timber posts and stones, remnants of a previous boardwalk that once passed much closer to the base of the tree. The boardwalk and interpretative signage are not considered to be of cultural heritage significance.

The Curtain Fig Tree was listed on the Queensland Heritage Register on 3 December 2009 having satisfied the following criteria. The place is important in demonstrating the evolution or pattern of Queensland's history. The Curtain Fig Tree (Ficus virens), a 500 year old strangler fig that has been associated with organised tourism on the Atherton Tableland since the 1920s, is important for its association with the evolution of tourism in Far North Queensland, demonstrating the attraction of the North Queensland natural environment for tourists. Its popularity is associated with the impact of the motor vehicle on Far North Queensland tourism. As an unusual natural phenomenon, the tree evoked a sense of wonder and curiosity amongst settlers on the Atherton Tableland in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and has been one of the most tourist visited large trees on the Tableland since the 1920s. It remains a popular tourist destination. The place is important because of its aesthetic significance. The Curtain Fig Tree is an imposing and distinctive tree set within rare mabi rainforest. It is valued for its immense size and the curtain effect that has resulted from the thick and interwoven vertical root system. The tree's verdant and luxuriant growth has been valued by locals and tourists from the 1920s, and evokes a sense of awe, wonder, amazement and curiosity.